The present invention relates to situations in which services or products are provided, usually by multiple servers, to numerous persons being served in which the tasks are identified by a number or otherwise, and completion of service is communicated to a person being served, usually a customer, by the task identification. In such systems, it is desirable to have a method of notifying customers of the completion of their order processing so that the customers do not have to wait for their order completion and can be free to complete other tasks and return upon completion of their order processing. The method and apparatus according to the invention is particularly adapted to use in high volume pharmacies and that particular use will be explained for the purpose of illustration. Clearly the system will have many other uses as in fast food establishments and other "while you wait" or fast service environments.
The system according to the invention is particularly useful in large retail stores where there is a pharmacy or other fast service department. In the absence of such a system, customers would take their prescriptions to the pharmacy to be filled and would often wait near the counter until the task of filling the prescription was completed and the customer's name or the order's identifying marker was called.
If the prescription is identified by a number (normally issued in increasing order) or other marker, it is then possible to provide a display visible from all parts of the retail store, by means of which the customer can be advised of the completion of the task of filling his prescription by display of the assigned number or marker. Such a system has several advantages, not the least of which if that pharmacy customers circulating in the store may find other items to purchase. Computerized control apparatus, as well as the method, is disclosed for implementing the system and will be described in detail hereinafter. A practical way to implement the system is by auxiliary microcomputer software controlled apparatus although it is possible to implement the method using subroutines in (POS) point-of-sale software to drive compatible numeric or alpha-numeric display units.
Numerous forms of queue monitoring or control systems, customer order processing systems, and the like have been proposed having generally similar objectives, but they do not suggest or disclose the apparatus and method of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,163 to Yehuda shows a system for monitoring the combined waiting and service time for customers in a single queue with multiple service clerks scenario. The system monitors every customer transaction to establish the total time it takes for the customer to get to a service representative through the use of a card dispenser at the end of the queue and a card reader at each service station. While Yehuda dispenses sequentially numbered cards to the customers and uses a data processor to control information, the Yehuda system is only concerned with queue waiting time and not the notification of waiting customers upon completion of their order. Furthermore, the Yehuda system requires manual manipulation of cards and additional steps for number processing. Thus, Yehuda does not disclose the invention contained herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,835 to Dextraze et al. discloses a system for monitoring the combined waiting time for customers in a single queue with multiple service clerks scenario. The system monitors every customer transaction to establish the total time it takes for the customer to get through the queue and be fully serviced. It does this through a sensor at the end of the queue and sensors located at each service station. Dextraze does not notify customers upon completion of their orders.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,107 to Nelson et al. shows a system designed to monitor the entry and exit of customers to determine the number of customers within a store. It then uses this information to predict the appropriate number of service personnel at a future time. This allows the store to establish an appropriate balance between clerk efficiency and customer service. This system differs from McCullough in that Nelson monitors the customer entry and exit rates for the store, measuring shopping time, line-waiting time, and service time; Nelson uses pre-established customer and service characteristics to predict future events; and Nelson monitors customer time within the store. Nelson does not notify customers of the completion of their order.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,097 to Fuyama et al. discloses a system for servicing of customers in a fast-food type restaurant environment. The system sequentially controls the processing of customers through the system and gives an efficient method for the processing of food orders. This system monitors the customer total service time and alerts by a blinking light when the service time exceeds a preset limit. Fuyama allows for the recall of mistakenly deleted orders and the correction of order item entries while McCullough allows for the deletion of an incorrect entry and correction of the number sequence; Fuyama displays the total customer service time to the operators on every order and can blink the service time when an excessive amount of time has lapsed while McCullough only displays the customer order marker number. Fuyama deletes the order from the display upon completion of the food preparation and does not disclose the use of a display to alert customers of an order completion.
To summarize the above comments, none of these prior systems have a method for displaying completed orders ready for pickup.
A prior McCullough U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,774 is the basis for a commercial pharmacy customer call system in use since 1993 which provides discreet paging by numerical display, but has no system for generating and controlling the customer service monitoring features.